More households that use alternative fuel to heat their homes will be able to claim £200 worth of energy bill support from today after the Government announced a change to the application scheme.
Households who use heating oil, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), coal or biomass as their main source of heating received payments worth £200 from February 2023 to help with energy costs.
This was called the Alternative Fuels Payment (AFP) and was on top of the £400 Energy Bill support for all UK households to help with the cost of living.
Homes that didn't receive an automatic payment of £200 needed to apply for the cash using an online portal.
To apply, they needed to provide evidence of payments of alternative fuel from September 2022. However, this has been extended backwards three months from September to June 2022.
This means that households who purchased fuel before September last year can apply for the £200 support using their receipts from earlier in the year.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said the move was made because some households purchased fuel in bulk ahead of the winter price rises in October.
The department added that it was "right" that these households weren't penalised for planning ahead.
Grant Shapps, secretary of state for energy security and net zero said: “We have already stepped in and paid half of a typical household energy bill, but we also always want to make sure support gets to those who need it.
“That’s why today we’re again stepping in to make sure those households using heating oil, LPG, biomass and more, can submit receipts for fuel purchases as far back as June 2022, because we recognise many households will have bought ahead of winter.”
The department said that only a "small number" of households using alternative fuels as their main heating source needed to apply for the cash.
The "vast majority" have already received the £200 as energy credit as they had a direct relationship with an electricity supplier.
Households who solely use alternative fuel have until May 31 to make their claim for the extra cash.
If you are eligible for the Alternative Payment, you will need to fill out the online application form through Gov.uk.
If you do not have online access, you can also apply through the scheme's contact centre by calling 08081753287.
Once you have applied, your application will be processed and verified and if successful, your details will be shared with your local authority who will then make the one off payment.
